As always, you can hear the audio for this bad boy over at SSR's page.

I guess if we could just start by introduce yourself and what you
do in the band.

Stza: I'm Stza Crack, I sing.
Ezra: I'm Ezra Crack. I play guitar and sing, sometimes.
Stza: I play guitar sometimes. When we're missing people.
Ezra: We trade but we do it very uhmâ?¦ mediocrely. That's the
word.

Sometimes that's all you need. So, I want to ask how the tour's
been going with you guys so far.

Stza: Really good.
Ezra: Yeah, we're about a week in so far, and we've only had
one smashed window break in and one flat tire. No riots.
Stza: Yeah.
Ezra: So we're doing alright.

Have the crowds been alright?

Stza: Yeah, we've sold out all the shows except for Richland,
Washington. Which is in the middle of nowhere.
Ezra: Yeah, that wasâ?¦Everywhere else has been good. Started in
Boise, made our way across to Seattle and now down the West Coast. We'll go
as far as Tijuana. If we're not dead yet.

So are you guys going to Mexico after this?

Stza: No, we're just doing one show in Tijuana.
Ezra: If that's considered Mexico. I don't know. (laughs)
Stza: Mexicoish. It's across the boarder.

It's kind of like Mexico. College Mexico, because that's where all
the college kids go.

Ezra: White Mans Mexico.
Sound Guy Nariman: You can call it Little U.S.

I was just really
disappointed with what I was seeing at [Hellcat] in general. This kind of
sexist punk attitude that Rancid and Lars and the Bastards kind of
propagate.

So you guys were doing to photo shoot today for the split with
Citizen Fish, I'd like to ask how that came about. How'd you end up working
with them and how it landed on Fat?

Stza: Uhâ?¦
Ezra: Well actually we played, it was the last show of our last
U.S. tour and uhmâ?¦
Stza: Well, we played a few shows with the Subhumanss.
Ezra: Yeah, we played with the Subhumans.
Stza: And Citizen Fish were on the tourâ?¦I mean they were all
there. Well, not all but a couple of guys stuck behind like Dick and Jasper
stuck behind in Milwaukie, our last show was in Milwaukie. Me and JP, our
drummer that played with us a lot (but he moved to Arizona, he's not with us
now), he's a huge Citizen Fish fan and the first punk show I went to was
Citizen Fish. Me and JP were looking at each other at a coffee shop the
morning of our show and Jasper was there and I was like, "What are you
doing here?" and he was like, "We're sticking in town another day". Me and
JP looked at each other and were like, "So, you want to do a Citizen Fish
song?" So, I know most of their songs, I don't know how to play them all
but Jasper showed me what he knew. I played guitar, Dick sang, Jasper
played bass and JP played drums. And, we had Citizen Crack do one song at
the Leftover Crack show. It kinda snowballed after that, we've been buddies
since.

Are you going to be doing any songs together on the split or is it
going to be entirely separate?

Stza: It's separate but we're going to be covering each other's
tunes. Like we're doing a Citizen Fish and a Subhumans' song and they're
doing a Choking Victim and a Leftover Crack song.

How many tracks is it going to be over all, do you know?

Stza: Fifteen.

So is it going to be eight [songs] and seven [songs]?

Stza: We have an intro so it's going to be seven, seven.

One of the things that gets brought up a lot is that one of the
original issues you had when you were with Hellcat [Records] is over the
original artwork and title for Mediocre Generica. I've heard people
talk about it but I've never heard what the original artwork and concept was
supposed to be.

Stza: The original record title and concept was Shoot the
Kids at School and it was basically my arm holding a gun. We took
pictures of that and cut it out and I found pictures of children in a school
yard, kind of playing. I cut it out and Xeroxed it and pasted it and it
looked like I was right there and that was going to be the cover. Hellcat
flipped out and they weren't into it. So censorship ensued.

Is that why you guys ended up going with the obvious title and the
band photo on the cover?

Stza: Yes, exactly. They wanted mediocre generic artwork and
they wanted a mediocre generic title, so I called it Mediocre
Generica and I guarantee you the irony was lost on Epitaph. They did
not have a clue. Those guys don't pay attention unless something jumps out
at them, like Shoot the Kids at School.

Was it a huge step going from that to Alternative Tentacles where
they let you have pictures of Bush and Chenny blowing up the twin towers and
Fuck World Trade as the title for your album? Were you ever
expecting that to happen?

Stza: We just figuredâ?¦We didn't have a plan. We didn't know if
we were going to be signed to any label. We recorded [the album] ourselves
and uhmâ?¦honestly I would have liked to have had just the World Trade
Centeron the cover but I knew that wouldn't fly with anybody.
So, I was like, "If we disguise it as anti-Bush propaganda, then we can get
it out there, our label will put it out". So, I mean you know.
Ezra: Yeah, we're really happy with Alternative Tentacles and
we were lucky to have them.
Stza: I mean they're putting out the vinyl for this thing
coming up.
Ezra: They kinda did it when nobody else really would.
Stza: A-F Records was interested but I don't think thatâ?¦I felt
a little hesitation on their part. And so that's why we went to AT.

So how did it happen that the split, the CD at least, is going to
be coming out on Fat? Did they just contact you about it?

Stza: Oh, Citizen Fish is already on Fat, I think. I had
heard that everybody at Fat liked our band and then I heard that Mike might
have been interested in the record but he was on Warped Tour. So he was
going to be gone for a couple months and we didn't really know. So, I
called Brian, from the Bouncing Souls, and said (he was on tour, on the
Warped Tour also)I said, " Brian, tell Mike if he wants to put out the split
with Citizen Fish, he has four days to call me". He called me like three
days later.
Ezra: Plus, Brad, our guitar player, is like good buddies with
all those guys in NOFX.
Stza: Yeah, he's part of the Punk Rock Mafia. A group that me
and Ezra are not a part of.
Ezra: Yeah, we're X-ed out of that. It's funny, we though Fat
hated us because we were in their offices like what, three years ago, four
years ago? Something like that. We did not get the warmest reception from
them.
Stza: Mike, he doesn't believe me, but I told him that he blew
us off. Our friend Chicken is in Dead to Me, and he was their mail room guy
back then. He introduced us to Mike, me and Ezra were there and Mike just
looked me up and down and without saying a word he walked away. It was
dick.
Ezra: He gave us the punk rock sneer.
Stza: He doesn't believe me. He thinks I'm lying or I made it
up. I'm like, "Oh yeah, I made that up. Sure".

We it seems like things are on at least a little better note with
you guys.

Ezra: No, I'm happy to be on Fat. There's a lot more bands on
that label that I like, or have liked in the past, than on Hellcat or any of
the other major indies.

Speaking of Hellcat, I don't mean to keep bringing it up but this
is my first chance to talk with you guys, I've read that the song "Gay Rude
Boys Unite" was, in part, a reaction to Hellcat releasing or signing
homophobic artists or content. Is there any truth to that?

Stza: Yeah, I mean it was a combination of a lot of things but
pretty much all of them had to do with Hellcat. At the time I was at Tim
Armstrong's house for some reason, I stayed there one night or two, I was
homeless. He begrudgingly let me stay over and soil his nice place. Anyways,
Buju Banton's (look up)manager was there. She's this girl, I don't know
where she's from, I assume she's from Jamaca because that's where he lives.
And Buju Banton is famous for being homophobic and I was asking her about
that, like what's up with that? She was like, Shaba Ranks (who's a huge
reggae and dancehall artist) he apologized for being homophobic and she
thought I was homophobic, apparently. She's like, "But Buju Banton, he
never apologized". I was like, "Oh yeah, right". Like, she wanted me to
give her a high five or something. So Tim really wanted Buju Banton to be
on Hellcat. Epitaph kind of ended up stealing him for Anti Records. There
were a couple of other bands on Hellcat with questionable lyrics. So, I
kinda took a bunch of stuff, I took a lot of Op Ivy references and put them
into the song and the music is kind of the same thing as "Yelling in my
Ear". I was kinda poking fun at him at the time, like we weren't enemies
(this is before we had any problems with the artwork) but I was just really
disappointed with what I was seeing at the label in general. This kind of
sexist punk attitude that Rancid and Lars and the Bastards kind of
propagate.
Ezra: U.S. Bombs.
Stza: Yeah. I mean I haven't seen a U.S. Bombs record cover
with naked women on it yet but I'm just sayingâ?¦Yeah, U.S. Bombs is part of
it. One of their songs is called "Don't Need You" off of War Birth, you
can look up the lyrics, tell me what you think. Is it homophobic or not? The
singer of U.S. Bombs, Duane Peters, he told me that was meant to be against
something else, but a 15 year old kid gets a record he's not going to know
what the fuck he's talking about, you know? They're just going to see it
for what it is basically, a homophobic song.

Do you guys have any feelings about the upcoming midterm elections?
Have you been paying attention to it at all?

Stza: Naw. I don't vote.
Ezra: We don't vote.
Stza: Maybe some people in the band vote.
Ezra: I'm saying you and I don't vote. Until I feel that
there's someone that represents me, which is probably never, I'm not going
to vote.

So I want to mention this because it seems to come up a lot on your
MySpace blog that you might not be up to a lot after this tour and that
you're not entirely sure you're going to make it through the tour. Is there
anything you can elaborate on?

Stza: Take it one day at a time, you know? I'm just being
pessimistic about the future. I usually write those things, mostly.
Ezra: We're constantly on the verge of splitting up and every
tour is our last tour.
Stza: Honestly, I think we get along better than most bands. It's
just that the dynamic isâ?¦it's rough every night.

This tour is weird because it's
the first time we're selling out every show we're playing at and there's too
many people and it stresses me out. I don't like it. I like it to be
smaller venues, less people. I like being able to talk to people and not
having to hide from 500 people.

Ezra: I think that there's a lot of creative people to be in
one band. I think we all need other creative outlets from time to time. I
think Sturgen wants to do his own thing, for a minute, after this tour.
Stza: The thing is, I got it, the thing is that Leftover Crack,
we have like 40 songs or so shit. Between The Crack Rock Steady 7 and
Leftover Crack like 35 or 40 songs. Every night I make a set list, like I
should be doing right now but I'll do it when I'm finished with this. I
make a set list and I have to fucking decide fromâ?¦I think most of our songs
are good personally. I think we only have a few songs that are shitty. Some
songs we never play but there are songs that we have to play every night and
then there are songs that I like that people want to hear, that they'll
request something different. If we make another record after the split
we're gonna have 50 songs, 55 songs. So, it goes on and on and makes it
harder for me to make a set. I figure I want to do another band that has
different songs that are similar and then come back and play Leftover Crack
shows playing our songs. Like I just started doing Choking Victim shows
with the original members of that band. We just play Choking Victim songs,
so Leftover Crack can ex-out all our Choking Victim songs (we do one or two
a night tops). It's like, there's no room for them anymore and now there's
hardly any room for all the Leftover Crack songs. We need to do different
stuff and keep Leftover Crack what it is. I just don't like it when a band
has a million songs and they only play their new record. You go see
Neurosis and they play their new record, they don't play anything. There's
Neurosis Pain of Mind, Neurosis Word as Law, Souls of Zero
, all these are my favorite records, Enemy of the Sun, and
these are all five records ago and fuckin' they never play any of those
songs. I'll never be able to see them because Neurosis keeps doing new
shit. I'd like them to stop, do a different band and then come back to
Neurosis, play those songs. So, when I go to a Neurosis show I know I'm
going to see at least a song or two from these old records.

I was actually going to mention I read an interview around the time
you released Mediocre Generica and you said you were getting tired of
the name Leftover Crack and you were thinking of changing itâ?¦

Stza: Yeah. You know what? This tour is weird because it's
the first time we're selling out every show we're playing at and there's too
many people and it stresses me out. I don't like it. I like it to be
smaller venues, less people. I like being able to talk to people and not
having to hide from 500 people. I like to be able to talk to our friends
and fans or whatever. It's kind of coming to a point where I can't do that
anymore and so I'd like to do something else where less people will show up,
hopefully. Well, definitely less people will show up.

Well, if you guys sucked, less people would show up.

Stza: Yeah, I don't wanna suck either. We don't have that much
time on this world, why make a bad record? (to Ezra) Do you wanna make a
bad record? Naw. Ezra's a perfect example. Ezra's not going to make a bad
record because he's fucking got talent.
Ezra: Well, I don't know about that.
Stza: I don't know if you've gotten to hear the Morning Glory
shit, it's all good. Good songs, it's like hardly any filler.

I was going to ask how Morning Glory is going. Is it still
functioning and active?

Ezra: Yeah yeah. Well our drummer left recent. Like went and
had a kid.
Stza: Our drummer.
Ezra: Our drummer, yeah. We're very incestuous. New York is a
very incestuous music scene. Yeah, he split and had to do the family thing
in Arizona. Everybody knows drummers are a crazy and erratic people and
they're really hard to find and they're usually already in three bands. So,
we've kind of been looking for another good drummer but if we can't find
somebody by like December, or somethingâ?¦I'd like to do some recording after
this tour and I'm probably going to hit up Ara and get more incestuous about
it and see if he'll play on some tracks for me. Even though he doesn't know
that yet.
Stza: The weird thing about Ara is that it doesn't matter. Ezra
can program a drum machine and shit and it doesn't matter how crazy the beat
is (it could be something that no one can play) and you can give it to Ara
and the next day he'll show up and play it exactly how it is. So, it's not
really any skin off his back. Plus, he gets to be on another record. It's
good for everybody, because he's a great drummer.
Ezra: But, other than that, like I'd like to do some recording
this winter and hopefully have something out by the summer. Maybe do a
little touring at some point in there.
Stza: Maybe we'll do a tour where our new bands, or Morning
Glory and my next band, because my next band is supposed to have Ara in it
too. (laughs)
Ezra: I just need Ara to record.
Stza: Right, and then you'll get another drummer and I'll get
him on tour and then we'll go on tour together.
Ezra: He's going to kill us both.

He's going to be overworked.

Stza: He's in The Slackers too, you know. He's in The Slackers
and they just had to get a second drummer, because he's on tour with us
sometimes. Like every time he leaves us, or comes meets us is a day after a
tour ended. The second he's done with this tour, he's going on tour with
The Slackers. It's always like that.

Does he have a place to live, like a permanent address?

Stza: Yeah yeah. It's in New Jersey, with his wife and kid.

Really? Wow, she must be understanding.

Stza: Yes.
Ezra: She's a really cool lady.
Stza: She does our art layouts and stuff.
Ezra: You know, Ara has said to me a couple of times that he
would commit to Leftover Crack, except that we're such a tenuous band and
we're so unstable. We're ready to break up at any minute. So he needs that
fall back with The Slackers or whoever, because that's the way he makes a
living, that's what he does for a job. But he's a drummers, he's crazy. You
can't figure him out. They're like girls.
Stza: You mean the female. Or like the equestrian species? He's
like the equestrian species, they show up on dry land and you're like, "Oh
my god, bow down" and then they cut off your head. I'm talking about horses
man. Fucking horses.
Ezra: Indigenous quadrupeds.
Stza: They scare me to death. No they don't. I just don't
think people should ride them. It's like, you know, that hurts. It's gotta
hurt, someone on your back all day.

Rancid played in New Haven in 92 or so. They were opening for someone else. They started to cover "Someone's Gonna Die" by Blitz. They stopped about 15 or twenty seconds into it and Tim made this unnecessary big speech about how they weren't racist because they were covering a song from an Oi band. It wasn't really necessary to go on about it and my friend Damian shouted out "We know already, just get on with it asshole."
Tim shouted back calling him a faggot and said if Damian had something to say that he should say it to his face. Damian called him out on it and walked onto the stage and confronted him. Tim pretty much shit his pants and cried out for security.
There were Rancid interviews in a few zines and MMR afterwards that a "nazi skin" tried to beat up Tim. Damian is not only of mixed race, but he's also Jewish. Fucking tool.
Now they're rock stars and writing songs for shampoo commercials.

-not my words, but from someone i know. i've heard others back it up as well.

Haha, that story just reeks of rumor. Yeah dude, like totally these five dudes got out of the car dude, and like got all up in Lars shit and he was like, whoa dude, don't want no trouble, but like the 4 dudes were like wailin' on him dude, then like the other 5th dude was all like gettin the car ready. It was INTENSE.

i saw them in tijuana and ezra & stza got into a fight after stza hit ezra in the head with his mic. ezra unplugged and walked off stage halfway through the set and they played without him the rest of the show, stza on guitar. kinda tense. then citizen fish came on and kicked ass. on my way home my roommate and i got searched by some TJ police officers. good thing we hid the valiums really deep.

"but a 15 year old kid gets a record he's not going to know what the fuck he's talking about, you know? "

coming from the guy who didn't want his shoot the kids at school cover censored.

Because the first thing a 15 year old thinks would think when he saw that cover would have been "ah, yes, what context is this in? irony, satire, mmm, yes".

I do agree with the hellcat comments, I've always been confused when labels putting out certain genres of music feel okay putting out some great hip hop or streetpunk artist irregardless of how fucked up their views are in relation to their own.

Great interview, Dante. Looked up the U.S. Bombs lyrics when he brought it up -- can't say Stza's wrong there. He comes across much better than I honestly thought he would have, considering the stories you hear. I so wish this tour had come farther south.

I don't really think that's the reason they bipassed florida on this tour, if I'm not mistaken, their myspace page said they would be doing another tour in the near future that would hit florida and alot of the other places they bypassed for cracktoberfest.

It must be a pretty sweet gig to be the mail room guy at Fat. You gotta know that you are in queue to be called up to join a new band at some point. It's like being the mail room guy at some mega Hollywood agency.

dont need you [4x]
i dont get along with no one i cant stand it when you try to help
i'm on the defense thats what wins as what the hell ya lookn at
DONT NEED YOU
here's the line so stay on yer side yer so sensative go play the smiths i like girls and you like all the boys i can tell you got that kinda lisp
DONT NEED YOU
i dont need [4x] dont need you
dont ever call me sir & don't cal me MR.
best you dont call yer fucking miserable
you you you i dont need you

Thats pretty funny. I mean i cracked a smile. Fuck. But dude, i love the fucking smiths and im sure.... Me, my lifestyle, and (to be funny like you) my fucking record collection is bigger than yours. And yes, im directing this not to you, but the band. Now thats pretty fucking funny.

Oh, well. I've already seen Leftover Crack twice this year, once opening for the Subhumans in Detroit and once opening for Against All Authority in Cleveland. I really would have liked to see Dead to Me, though.

I don't agree with all their business decisions, but I'm fully with Hellcat/Epitaph about the "Shoot The Kids At School" thing. LC seem to think that by coming up with a "controversial" image they're somehow making a deep political statement. Uhh, no. Xeroxing schoolkids alongside guns isn't some profound comment on society and gun culture, it's just a punk thug trying to get a rise outta people by provoking them. It just sounds lame, it's like stoner logic.

The statement that was made was from Hellcat saying "we're not going to let you put what you want on the cover of your album." It wouldn't matter if it was a naked baby in water or a dead nun, it's the censorship that matters.

if you know anything about leftover crack you'll know that they try to piss off anybody who has the mainstream process of thinking. after columbine, EVERYONE was all "ohh this is so sad, rich white kids getting their school shot up how tragic". LoC was trying to piss them off with the cover. same thing with fuck world trade. its not a political statement as much as a "fuck you" to society.

actually what happened was this - when the art for the CD (Shoot The Kids At School) was turned into the printer, the next day a shooting occured at that High School in Santana which is near San Diego and that was all over the news because a few kids were killed. The printer called Epitaph and said they wouldn't print the CD and since most print shops are unionzed they said no one else would print it as well or rather the union would not allow anyone else to print it so in a sense it was censored by the Printer's Union. Then employees at Epitaph/Hellcat voiced their opinions in regards to the art not being appropriate because of what just happened down in Santana, CA as well as some local shootings in the area where Epitaph/Hellcat is located at. I'm sure those opinions were taken into account when the decision was made not to print the CD with it's original art and title. Some might say that Epitaph/Hellcat could have gone to a mom & pop print shop and still put out the CD how the band intended it to be but then you have to deal with distributors not wanting to stock the CD's and on and on it would have gone. So what do you do? Ask the band to change the art & title.

And if that's how it happened, I thank you for putting it up. Never having a chance to talk to any of the parties involved till this interview, it was my first chance to hear anything about it. I figure LoC's version may be a little one-sided but it was one more side than I hade regarding the issue previously. I appreciate your input.
My only point to argue (and this is only in regards to what could happen, not what did) is that the CD might have sold quite well with the Shoot the Kids at School title. I mean Fuck World Trade (faux political art aside) is quite a bit more brash than that and it's the album that's made these guys into the band they are now (able to sell out 500 person venues nightly).
But, I don't know all the details surrounding the story so I appreciate your input. Any addtional facts (i.e. not, "Fuck you you unfunnnny fucx") are always welcome.
-Dante

I'm going to make no jokes here.
I'm sick and fucking tired of taking hours of my time to transcribe (and edit for content) a thirty plus minute interview, formating it to HTML and then sending it into Punknews (where up to two seperate editors look at it) only to have some kid rip on a minor error.
I'm pretty sure you figured out the meaning from the context. If not you're a numb nuts. Seriously, take up a job as an editor if mistakes get up your ass that much.
-Dante

On one hand I think it's a little bit hypocritical to be in an overtly political band, and admit to not voting. On the other hand, I can completely empathize with being having radical ideologies that neither of the two major parties mirror.

"Political" is not the same as "democratic system." Being "political" could mean that you believe in the abolishment of the state, the introduction of a fascist regime, or the maintaining of the status quo. LoC have always seemed to walk the line of "crust/anarcho/far left" rather than "mainstream/rock against X/vote or die."

Oh, I most certainly agree, however, i'm so anti-republican, that I will go out and vote for democratic candidates, with whom I have little to nothing in common. I guess what I'm saying is, as annoying as Al Gore is/was, had more people simply gone out and cast a vote against George Bush, we MAY not be in the same position we are now as a country!

no shit dumbass, that was the point i was trying to make. contrary to what you may believe my comment was dripping with sarcasm. if you don't believe me, check out my spelling of your favourite political party......

9/11 would never have happened, there would have been no war in afghanistan nor in iraq, and things would be (a little) better. anyway, if/when i vote, i vote for the green party. anyway i live in italy so who cares?
Maks

I'm not a fan of capitalism either, but you're not going to get rid of the things in America you disagree with by writing esoteric music that appeals mainly to underage bourgois kids! Don't get me wrong, i like choking victim quite a bit, but I don't see the merit in an overtly political band taking no active involvement in any type of politcal action.

Not necessarily, but rage against the machine playing the DNC made a bigger impact than any show leftover crack have ever played! I repsect the whole idea of playing squats and not giving a shit ift 18 year olds potheads in pickup trucks buy your music, but sometimes you have to bend a little bit to get your message out, I'm not saying they should begin amrketing to sublime fans, but even touring with a better known act would help get their message out to people who may not necessarily be aware of LOC.

Well then dude you are missing one of the big points of punkrock in itself. See leftover crack is a band that pretty much live by what they believe. They are the alternative themselves, same way as propagandhi et.c., or bands like fifteen. To me that will always be the strenght of punkrock, being and creating the alternative. Seriously who do you think the government really fear, RATM and Bono whoring on majorlabels and shit or bands and people working from the bottom living what they say/sing aswell not participating in what they hate.

I would like to thank two people for this
1) The Sainte Catherines who told me Brad Logan was on site, even though I was told they weren't showing up till 9PM
2) Brad Logan for seriously going above and beyond in setting us up with Stza and Ezra, and then checking in afterwards to make sure it went well. For looking so intimidating he is an amazingly nice guy.

I don't necessarily agree with everything LoC said in this interview or in general. I don't feel I need to have completly coinsiding views of the bands I interview. I do feel they are a very interesting group of guys, who have gathered and errie cult following and thus are of some relevance, hence the interview.
-Dante

Well for one, I vote. I don't think it's going to make all the change in the world, and in Americas current politcal standing (and our electoral system) I can see why some wouldn't vote. However, I feel it is a must if you like to complain.

Also, I've never dealt with Hellcat or Epitaph (save setting up one or two interviews) so I don't know if they're homophobic/sexist or not. It may very well be true, but it may just as well be a not.
I'm not saying that Stza and Ezra are wrong or right, I'm just putting down what they answered to my questions. This is most opinions and they're welcome to theirs.
-Dante

Oh for sure. And I never said I don't support their ideas, they're just not mine.
If LoC doesn't want to vote (and for the reasons they listed), that's their deal and that's fine. I'm just saying it's not mine.
-Dante

Good interview Dante! Maybe some of the followup questions could've been a little more focused- like the "epitaph censored us" thing. Did the label break their contract w/ the band by not allowing them the cover they wanted? Why did the band stay with the label and put out the compromise cover? Were they unable to get out of their contract? How does one balance being such a squatter punk band with dealing with contracts and advances and all that? (Alternative Tentacles has a contract with them too, it's a question that I'd ask any outspoken political band)

On a personal note, I think the "US Bombs/Epitaph are sexist/homophobic" accusation doesn't hold up.

he US Bombs song: he says that Duane Peters told him is about a specific person, not a generalization. Therefore, it's not a gay-bashing song, regardless of what the audience's reaction to it may or may not be. Coming from an artist who has really radical, violent lyrics about killing cops and burning society down, I'd think he'd be more understanding. If some kid takes Stza's lyrics completely literally and murders someone, is Stza then responsible for that death? See: Judas Priest suicide trial.

The story about Buju Banton's hateful manager- and? If you hold a record label responsible for all of the opinions/attitudes of all of their band members and band employees, then this accusation holds up. Of course, that means that no record label with more than 3 bands ISN'T racist, sexist, and/or homophobic, but hey... While they didn't sign Buju, they did put out "Viking" which was lyrically pretty yucky (great record besides that though). They also put out Leftover Crack and Choking Victim, and F-Minus, and Distillers, and Rancid. Knowing members of all of those bands, especially the last two, I can tell you that they aren't racist, sexist, homophobic neandrathals like Ian Stewart, El Duce, or Bad Brains.

Maybe I should have worded that better. I consider myself a fan. But it's kind of funny going to their shows because 90% of the people there wear LOC/CV shirts. And they really do act like Juggalos. And twice I've seen LOC sell out shows they were opening, only to have 75% of the people in attendance leave before the headliners (Subhumans once and Against All Authority another).

yeah thats those 15 year olds who were listening to the radio a year ago and ask stza for autographs. but i have a leftover crack patch sewn into a jacket which i proudly wear to shows and i know i'm not a fuckin juggalo.

Exactly right. There was a bunch of kids who loved these guys at my old high school, they were the biggest jokes. They had a band and sang songs about doing crack and being fucked up when in reality they were a bunch of middle class white kids from a fucking small rural town. I hate that shit.

i dont know what stza's talking about wanting to talk to everyone before the shows and shit, every time i've seen them, he's hiding until its LOC's time to play, and then doesn't like to interact with people really. maybe thats just at the cracktoberfests that used to be free in new york?

might be true now but i definitely saw crowd interaction at a LOC show about 3 summers ago...in fact i was standing right next to him during one of the opening bands but i didn't realize it since it was my first time seeing them

Ever since Lars wrote a two-page piece for the (sadly short-lived) LA mag Destroy All Monthly entirely about his hooker-hiring exploits in Asia, I've realized he is one of the most desperate-for-attention punkers out there.

It's quite comical that an interview by a source with no integrity is taken as gospel on this site. Wake up you morons! College radio has had moreinsightful stories than this crap. This is almost like a People Magazine interview. One-sided viewpoints being told in this interview.

Uhm...I'm not sure I understand your complaint. I interview a band and ask for their opinions and that's one sided? I'm not exactly sure how I would have multiple view points put in an interview with two memebers of one band who share most of their views.
As for the People magazine jab, first off, what? Secondly, I don't even know what their magazine looks like, why do you? Third, they probably have better writers/stories than 99% of punk zines (I'm assuming their size has a bigger pull for talented staff and bigger interviews), so thanks.
Now, the best part It's quite comical that an interview by a source with no integrity is taken as gospel on this site. If you mean LoC, well that's your gripe with them, but all interviews are tainted in some way by the bias of the person being interviewed and I imagine they're the same way. If you mean me, well if you take the 10 seconds to visit www.SoundSceneRevolution.com, you can download all the audio and make out quite clearly who is who (as no one sounds the same in this interview).
Seriously, find a better past time than balljocking me on Punknews, or get better at it.
-Dante

If the kids these days are still listening to rancid and this type of crap..... Let me now take my own life. O. K. Interview but the band and all this so called punk shit makes me sick. Stop following the trends and start spending your time finding real punk bands. Fuck. Damn the man.

I do like leftover crack and choking victim i must say. However i don't agree with just everything either. E.t.c. i think they're pretty much nihilists, which i don't quite support. And as for the epitaph/hellcat stuff and the guy who said it was about censorship, i don't agree. I mean it's not like epitaph took away the right from them to have the title "shoot the kids at school" they just didn't want to release it. And really if i had a record label putting out stuff and one of my bands suddenly wanted to release a record called "kill the niggaz" with a picture of a dead black dude, i wouldn't wanna release it either, cause it's not something i agree on or want to promote. So i wouldn't say it's about censorship it's about responsibility more so. It's not like they had to release the record on epitaph.

Why is it OK to put an image of someone shooting a schoolyard of kids into the hands of a 15 year old, who won't understand the irony or whatever statement the band is trying to put forward, but its not OK to write a homophobic song?

you could spend your whole fucking life boy-cutting this guy, or that guys, and that band, or that product or whatever for innuendo or questionable things but you'll probably end up with nothing... and being a pussy.

while biggotry of any kind is lame its pretty lame to be completely p.c. and 100% safe and police everybody on it saying "WELL I HEARD HE SAID THISSSSS... THEY DID THAT ONE TIME! THEY HANG OUT WITH SUCH AND SUCH!"

and if he wants to play the guilty by association game brad logan was in the exploding fuck dolls with duane and i think he played with bombs for awhile too maybe......... so add the 4, carry the 2, divide by the quadriatic th..........gasp.... BRAD LOGAN IS A HOMOPHOBE!

Me and my old band did a show together with Leftover Crack. I didn't like them. The music was okay, but those guys had an attitude and kinda acted like bastards.
After reading this interview they think to know what punkrock is all about. Fine. I don't agree with them and it's lame to judge people when you don't have a clue what is going on.

The song isnt about Tim Armstrong
Its about some of the bands on Hellcat with homophobic lyrics
The only real relations between Tim and that song are the fact he is part owner of Hellcat and He was in OpIvy, And he says he was poking fun at OpIvy not hating on him.